Poppies and Pin-Ups

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

Omaha Beach- from Saving Private Ryan: https://youtu.be/XijMMhs55oc?si=2xHJ70i6kS2Naojl

History of The WWI Remembrance Poppy:

https://www.history.com/articles/world-war-i-poppy-remembrance-symbol-veterans-day

My grandfather, Dr. John Gillmann, was sent a Victory Letter via V-Mail, regarding his wife my grandmother Helen Rose. The letter was requestiong

War Cake

This 100-year-old one-bowl cake is an easy and flavorful retro dessert.

Dried fruit and warming spices create a moist, flavorful treat with nostalgic charm.

The cake stays moist for days, and can be made ahead or frozen for later.

What Is War Cake?

War cake is an eggless, milkless, butterless cake recipe that helped keep dessert on the table during the shortages and rationing periods of World War I, II, and the Great Depression.

The cake is sweetened with dried fruits and molasses, honey, or brown sugar—all historically easier to acquire during lean times than white cane sugar. Like Depression cake, war cake contains no milk, using water for the liquid instead. Originally a butterless cake, bakers would use shortening or rendered fats, like tallow or bacon grease, that they saved when cooking.

Many versions called for molasses, but I prefer using just brown sugar. When I tried using molasses or a mix of molasses and brown sugar, the molasses flavor completely took over.

Instead of water, I plumped the dried fruit in coffee. They soak up the coffee, brown sugar, and butter. The coffee flavor wasn't strong in the baked cake, but it accentuated the flavor of the brown sugar and dried fruits. You can also a bit of rum if you like :)

Ingredients

2 cups (300g) dried fruit, such as raisins, chopped dates, currants or a mixture of them

1 cup (213g) packed light brown sugar

1 cup (240ml) strong brewed coffee

1/3 cup (75g) unsalted butter

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour

1 TBL poppy seeds - I added these for remembrance

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Powdered sugar, for serving

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Butter the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round cake pan that's at least 2 inches deep. Line the bottom with parchment paper and grease. Dust the sides and parchment paper with flour and tap out the excess.

Boil the dried fruit:

In a medium saucepan, combine the dried fruit, brown sugar, coffee, and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Continue to boil for 3 minutes. The butter will melt, the brown sugar will dissolve, and the dried fruit will plump. Take the pan off the heat and set it aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

A medium pot will seem oversized at first, but the tall sides of the pot come in handy.

Add the dry ingredients:

Sprinkle in the baking soda; the mixture will bubble and foam. Carefully stir the mixture with a silicone spatula.

Add the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, baking powder, and salt to the saucepan. Stir with a silicone spatula just until combined and no lumps of dry flour remain.

Bake:

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with a moist crumb or two attached (no wet batter), about 30 minutes.

Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edge of the cake, then turn it out onto a rack to cool completely, peeling off the parchment. Dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar and serve.

Store the cake, covered tightly, at room temperature for up to a week. The cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. After cooling, wrap the cake in one layer of plastic wrap and one layer of aluminum foil. Thaw the cake, still wrapped, in the fridge overnight.